Social Media for Vancouver Plumbers, Electricians and Roofers: What to Post, Where, and What to Skip

Nobody in Vancouver picks a roofer from a TikTok dance. But plenty of homeowners check a company’s Facebook or Instagram before they call, and a page that was last updated in 2022 reads as a company that may have closed. Social media for a trade is not a lead engine. It is proof of life, and a place to show your work.

What social media actually does for a trade

Search finds you. Reviews convince them. Social answers the question that comes just before the call: “Are these people real, and is this what they do?” A feed of real jobs, real crew and real trucks answers it in ten seconds. That is the whole job, and it means you can stop chasing followers and engagement numbers that never turn into a booked job.

There is a second use. Past customers who follow you are reminded you exist when their neighbour asks for a plumber, and when they need the next job themselves. Referral businesses run on being remembered.

Pick two platforms and ignore the rest

For a Metro Vancouver trade, Facebook and Instagram, run from the same Meta account with the same posts. Facebook is where homeowners over 40 and the neighbourhood groups are. Instagram is where before-and-after photos travel. Add Google Business Profile posts as a third, because they show up in the map pack and cost nothing. Skip LinkedIn unless you do commercial work, skip TikTok unless someone on the crew genuinely enjoys making videos, and skip X entirely.

The four post types, on a rotation

1. The job. Before and after, with the city and the problem in one line: “Failed gutter on a 1970s Burnaby split-level, replaced in a morning.” Photo taken on a phone, no editing. This is 60% of your feed.
2. The review. One a week, the customer’s words as a text image, with a photo of the job it describes. It repeats the proof from Google where a different audience sees it. Our review guide covers getting enough of them.
3. The answer. One short post answering a question you get every week. “Yes, you need a permit to replace an electrical panel in Vancouver, and here is what it costs.” These get shared in neighbourhood groups and they hand you authority.
4. The people. A new hire, a completed apprenticeship, a crew photo in the rain. Homeowners are letting your people into their house; showing who they are matters.

The twenty-minute week

Crews take two photos per job, before and after, and drop them in a shared album. Once a week, someone in the office picks four, writes one line each, and schedules them through Meta’s own tool to post on different days. Twenty minutes. Two posts a week is enough; a feed that posts daily for a month and then nothing for six is worse than one that posts twice a week for years.

Seasonal posts that work in Vancouver

• September and October: gutter and roof checks before the rain, furnace tune-ups before the first cold week.
• November to February: emergency availability, storm damage, frozen pipe prevention during the cold snaps.
• March to May: heat pump rebates, exterior work, spring electrical inspections for older homes.
• June to August: air conditioning and heat pumps during the heat, booking windows for the fall.

What to skip

Stock photos. Motivational quotes. Posting the same “we’re hiring” graphic weekly. Buying followers, which makes your page look fake to the people who matter. Arguing with a bad review in public; take it to a calm reply and a phone call. And paid social as your main lead source: Meta ads work for some trades, for offers and for retargeting people who visited the website, and that is a separate, measured campaign, not boosting a post for $20.

Where it fits in the plan

Social supports the two channels that actually produce the calls: local SEO for the map pack and Google Ads for the searches you are not ranking for yet. When we manage a trade’s marketing, social is the least of the budget and the most consistent part of the calendar, for exactly the reasons above.

If your last post is older than your newest truck, book a free strategy call and we’ll set up the album, the rotation and the schedule with your office in one session.

Related guides

• How Vancouver trades get more Google reviews
• What a Vancouver trade business should blog about
• The Vancouver trades marketing calendar by season
• Marketing for home-service businesses

Frequently asked questions

How often should a trade business post?

Twice a week, consistently, beats daily bursts. Real job photos, not graphics.

Do I need to pay for Facebook ads?

Not to start. Organic posts do the proof-of-life job. Paid Meta ads make sense for a specific offer or for retargeting website visitors, run as a measured campaign with call tracking.

Should I respond to comments and messages?

Yes, within the day. A message on Facebook is a lead like any other, and unanswered messages are visible to everyone who visits the page.

Can social media help my Google rankings?

Not directly. It helps indirectly by keeping past customers engaged so they leave reviews and refer you, and by giving your Google Business Profile posts a steady supply of content.